Holly Smale’s ‘Geek Girl’ Series is Now on Netflix

Cara-Louise Scott

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First announced in January 2023, it was revealed that Holly Smale’s beloved book series, Geek Girl, would be made into a one-off limited Netflix series, which was released on 30th May 2024.

The ‘Geek Girl’ book series

The Geek Girl books follow the life of Harriet Manners, a normal, albeit awkward, teenage girl who finds herself scouted by a top London modelling agency. As someone obsessed with the Geek Girl books as a teenager, it’s exciting to see how the show is both similar and different and how the characters transfer onto the screen.

“The series follows Harriet Manners, a nerdy 15-year-old girl who tries modelling to reinvent herself.”

For those unfamiliar with Geek Girl, the first book came out in 2013, and the series contains six books despite originally intending to be a trilogy. Smales also did a World Book Day spin-off called Geek Drama, a Christmas special titled All Wrapped Up, and a summer novella called Sunny Side Up. None of these, however, are in line with the main series. Most notably, perhaps, Geek Girl won the 2014 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

The series follows Harriet Manners, a nerdy 15-year-old girl who tries modelling to reinvent herself. It’s hard not to fall in love with Harriet, who I could relate to as a young girl in different ways, as I’m sure other people have done and will do from the Netflix show. It’s hard to believe that HarperCollins published Forever Geek, the final instalment of the Geek Girl series, in March 2017, over seven years ago. At this time of my life, I had just experienced a family grief, and reading Smale’s work and absorbing myself in Harriet’s life was a much-needed escapism. 

Holly Smale and Harriet Manners

Geek Girl reflects author Holly Smale’s life in many ways, which she has openly discussed. A London Modelling agency recruited Smale, and she became a fashion model when she was 15 years old. She hated it but thought it might help her to be ‘normal’, which is reflected in the books. She was also subject to bullying during her childhood and struggled a lot with fitting in. As stated in an interview, Smale didn’t feel like everyone else and felt overwhelmed with everything ‘so loud and so bright and so much’. Later on in life, at the age of 39, she was diagnosed with autism and then with a developmental coordination disorder. Smale also revealed that Harriet Manners is neurodivergent, telling BBC Radio 4, “She’s essentially me.”

What can we expect?

Emily Carey, known for playing young Alicent Hightower in HBO’s House of the Dragon, plays Harriet Manners. The Geek Girl limited series comprises ten episodes, each 30 minutes long. 

Why is ‘Geek Girl’ so important?

“Many women can connect to Harriet, and now, more than ever, this TV series is extremely timely.”

Geek Girl was important for teenage girls in the 2010s, and Holly’s story is just as prominent now for those watching this series. Reading and watching Harriet Manner’s life teaches you that being different is good; we are all amazing and unique in our ways, and we all deserve love. A firm memory I have is buying each book the day they came out and obsessing over them. I was even lucky enough to watch Holly Smale give a talk at the Bath Literature Festival. Like many others, I was (still am) a young girl with insecurities, and I felt seen and connected with Harriet.

The idea of being ‘normal’ in society and trying to fit in is still such a damaging problem for young people. What is normal? How can anyone be normal? Many women can connect to Harriet, and now, more than ever, this TV series is extremely timely. It is already proving successful and will allow the books to gain even more popularity again, as Holly Smale deserves.

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Featured image courtesy of Hey Paul Studios on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.